Adventures of A Rookie Maple Syrup Producer

By Tina Barton

My sister first suggested to me that perhaps we could turn our 18 acres of forest in Gilmer County West Virginia into a profitable operation, or if not profitable, at least reap some rewards of a different sort from it. Her husband has family in New England and they were in the business of maple syrup. She thought perhaps, if we have sugar maple trees, we could give it a try. I asked the locals (though my family roots run deep in West Virginia, I live primarily in Maryland), and was told, “these hills are full of sugar maples.”

I forgot about it, because my Dad, who lived on the West Virginia property, was losing his battle with arthritis, heart disease and dementia. He passed away in November of 2015. He loved West Virginia and retired there (having worked for NASA, as so many WVU graduates have done). He bought his parents’ house in Tanner. It was his fear that the property would leave the family, but he was in debt, and his will just said “share and share alike” among his six heirs. Share and share alike, what? Debt?

It was a long hard discussion between me and my husband, and while he was against it, my heart was in Tanner, at least as a vacation get-away. It being 5 hours from our Maryland home was his main complaint, and also the belief that the house was cursed. Anyway, long story short, we paid off the debts, and my father’s other heirs all signed away their rights to the house to me. They still have a share in 16 acres of land that is ours, and another share with our first cousins of another 53 acres on Dry Run over the hill. 

Around about this time, my niece shared an article about West Virginia Maple Sugaring and it renewed my interest. Soon, as things like this will, it became an obsession. I was retired, and at 57 I was interested in turning this land into some account. The 16 acres we own has been timbered in the last 20 or 30 years. The sugar maples are indeed plentiful, but most of the trees are below the 10-inch diameter rule. However, the house sits on another 2.5 acre plot, and it’s mine, all mine! And being the “lawn”, it was not timbered. So I found myself 10 or 11 maple trees, not big, but big enough. My niece came to visit during the summer of 2017 and I interested her children in finding and marking sugar maples with me, using some pink plastic ribbon. I marked 4 and I knew where a couple other big ones were without marking.

I bought a book and a starter kit of 10 taps. Over the fall and winter I started accumulating equipment and check lists, and check lists for my check lists. I first enlisted my local friend who watches our property when we are away, to cut some wood and tarp it over for me so it would be dry in late winter. But as time went on, I decided I couldn’t really count on having dry wood because it was a wet year, and my friend got frost-bite on his foot, and I decided not to harass him about it.  I decided to purchase an outdoor cooker.

Mind you, my husband was not on board with this project. “We can get maple syrup for $12 a jug at BJs. Why do all this work?” “Because it’s OUR land, and we should get something off our OUR land!” (Actually, it’s my land, but he thinks what’s mine is his, and he’s not really wrong. But I do plan to leave this property to my son, if I die first.) He did not stop me from purchasing odds and ends as long as I didn’t talk about it, but when the cooker came, and I wanted to try it out, and needed him to help me hook up the propane tank, I learned that our tank was over 20 years old and had some old connector parts that were incompatible. So I started looking into adapter pieces or new tanks, when he said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if the cooker could use natural gas?” Unfortunately I don’t get free natural gas, because I only share mineral rights with all my first and second cousins on my Grandpa Gainer’s side. But gas is cheap enough, especially as we don’t use it that often, it being only a vacation home.

So after some investigations, my $50 cooker had to be returned for a $90 cooker, and then we had to get some parts to connect to the gas, and then I needed this and that, and before I new it, I had paid $270 for equipment for 10 taps, which would at most get me about 5 cups of syrup. Now that’s some expensive syrup! And I even wondered if I’d only get 3 tablespoons! But most of my equipment can be reused, though I found out my plastic spiles should be replaced every year.

My plan was simple. Find a week of weather where the forecast for one week was to be freezing at night but warmer during the day. (We were only going for one week.) Drill holes in soda bottle lids to fit the plastic tubing that came with my starter kit. (Easier said than done. Husband had to do it.) Attach one end of a tube to a spile and the other end to the cap. (Easier said than done – tight fit!) Tap my trees and screw the lid onto a clean soda bottle. (Also easier said than done because my “sugar bush” is on a 25 degree slope, and did I mention, I’m 57? But I did it myself!) Collect my sap every day into spare 2 liter bottles. (I started finding the most efficient path between my taps but I still ended up with bursitis in my hip when it was all done.) On the last day, cook what I had down, filter it, and can it in my cute little 8 oz Ball jars. (Easier said than done. Our flame wasn’t burning clean and we had soot everywhere but we didn’t know that was wrong. I didn’t realize it was about 1/8 inch thick on my cooking pot so when I brought it in, I got soot on the rug, on the floors, on my clothes, on my cat – poor calico had gray paws for about a month). We chose a week around February 26. My weather was near perfect except mid-week, when a Nor’easter went through and warmed up for a day. This is the short form of the plan. The actual check list and notes were much longer.

The first thing that happened was that my big tree was not “giving” and I planned two taps for that one. I had another big tree but it had barbed wire all through it and I didn’t have the heart to tap that one. I needed more trees. Thank goodness for the Internet and Google. “How do you identify sugar maples in the winter.” I found about 6 more trees that were big enough, and they were giving like there was no tomorrow! (Except on the nor’easter day). I got 25 liters of sap. The painful thing was that my husband was not going to give in and let us stay another few days to get more sap though the weather was PERFECT! My last day was my best take. Sigh. I untapped my trees and my neighbor had to tell me how the trees were still running sap for several more weeks. I had been nervous that we traveled too late in the season, but it was perfect timing. The red maples started budding out, but the sugar maples were in prime form.

I had beginners luck. My sap cooked down to 3 1/4 cups, and it was a delicious golden delicate syrup. I say syrup, but it was probably more of an nectar, because I don’t think I cooked it long enough. My candy thermometer was defective and I guessed when it was done, when the boil changed, it thickened up, and it was absolutely yummy!

I learned about the West Virginia Maple Syrup Producers Association, and I attended their annual meeting in May. I learned there about how many things could have gone wrong, and how my syrup really probably didn’t stack up. But one of the rules of backyard sugaring is, if you like it, then it is fine! 

I don’t plan on selling any syrup at this time. When my trees grow up, perhaps my son, nieces, nephews and cousins will want to go hog wild on it. But I did get my cousin to allow me to use some of her trees next year, and so I will triple my number of taps, and also hope to triple my time on the hill. My husband can come visit me if he doesn’t want to stay the whole time! My cousin’s trees are along the “cliff trail” which are more easily accessible so tripling should not put more pressure on my hips. I’ve been working out too!

I have named my farm and designed a little logo. Well, my Mom (who died in 1999) named the farm “Croagh Patrick” after a hill in Ireland, and after my Irish grandfather Patrick W. Gainer, and my father, Patrick A. Gainer. I decided to honor her (their) memory. My logo represents two passions of mine, maple sugaring and box turtles which are plentiful on Croagh Patrick.